Sabarimala Shrine, the famous Hindu temple devoted to Lord Ayyappan, has been seeing massive footfall this year, with pilgrims complaining of lack of basic amenities and safety measures.
Local reports stated that considering the heavy rush of pilgrims, several devotees — from places like Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Thrissur, Kozhikode and Malappuram — called off their trip to the shrine, and returned home. Visitors were reportedly made to wait for hours after police blocked vehicles.
According to a report in Online Manorama, Sabarimala pilgrims on Tuesday blocked the road at Erumeli to protest against authorities’ decision not to allow them into Pampa.
Devotees from various states blocked the Erumeli-Ranni road to register their protest. There was an altercation between the devotees and the police at Ettumanoor Mahadeva temple, a prominent pilgrimage centre, earlier in the morning after pilgrims were prevented from proceeding to Sabarimala despite waiting for hours, the report stated.
Hundreds of devotees, who had reached Ettumanoor temple the previous morning were not allowed to leave to Sabarimala citing the crowd of Erumeli and Pampa, Manorama mentioned.
“I came to Sabarimala when I was a child with my father decades ago. Still, I clearly remember the picturesque route. This is the first time I left my house for the hill shrine with my family after I became an elderly woman. I was anxious to see the present status of the trekking route from Pampa to Sannidhanam and Sabarimala. Unfortunately, we were forced to cut short our journey at Nilakkal today (Tuesday). The situation at Nilakkal instilled fear in us. We are now returning from Pandalam,” 60-year-Omana, a pilgrim from Arimpur in Thrissur, was quoted as saying by The New Indian Express.
TNIE stated that as the police blocked the vehicles, it took devotees over eight hours to reach Nilakkal from Erumely. They could not go to Pampa as all buses were jampacked.
“We were afraid for the safety of the children and elderly. So we ended our pilgrimage at Nilakkal and returned by 6 am. We reached Pandalam temple and performed the rituals,” Ashok Kumar, a pilgrim from Puranattukara in Thrissur, was quoted as saying.
Someone is Responsible: Kerala Governor
On the Sabarimala mismanagement issue, Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan said, “Sometimes mismanagement happens due to heavy rush. It is the main season and will continue till January 15…Normally they (the police force) do their jobs well…I am very sad about the incident that happened…Public representatives should raise the issue. Someone is responsible for the incident.”
Kerala High Court on Sabarimala
The Kerala High Court on Tuesday directed the authorities to ensure support to the Sabarimala pilgrims who reach the shrine and to provide adequate parking facilities for the vehicles. The bench of Justice Anil Narendran and G Girish, asked the state police to ensure that the rush to the hilltop shrine was under control.
The court asked the police not to allow overcrowding of devotees in the queue complex and keep it clean every day. “The Travancore Devaswom Board shall consider whether the pilgrims can be provided with drinking water and biscuits at such locations through NSS volunteers in educational institutions or with the assistance of the concerned Local Self Government Institutions,” the court said.
The high court also said that the Devaswom Board shall deploy a sufficient number of security personnel/employees on each parking ground to ensure maximum parking of vehicles can be done. The court also said that more facilities should be arranged at the shrine for pilgrims, including children. ADGP (Law and Order) M R Ajit Kumar appeared before the court and explained the facilities provided there.
Reasons for Rush at Sabarimala Temple
According to Manorama, the traffic jam that began on the morning of December 8 affected Pampa, Nilakkal and Sannidhanam for four days.
During the first two weeks of the pilgrimage, the daily average of pilgrims was half a lakh. A large flow of devotees started after December 7, the report mentioned, giving out likely reasons for the rush.
Chennai flood: Manorama stated that when there was a flood in Chennai, many trains to Kerala were cancelled. The journey of many of the Ayyappans from other states was also halted. These devotees later booked and came together to Sannidhanam.
Telangana Polls: Despite elections in the neighbouring state of Telangana, the devotees didn’t let their pilgrimage plan get affected. The report stated that after polling and counting of votes in Telangana, the number of pilgrims increased massively. The likely reason could have been that those working in other states, may have travelled to their hometown to vote, and from there they planned an onward journey to Sabarimala.
Flaw in Planning: According to the report, the police systems in Sannidhanam, Pampa and Nilakkala were unable to work in tandem. As important as controlling the devotees who go to Sannidhanam, it is also important to bring back those who have left after the darshan.
Manorama stated that there was a failure in making arrangement, even as the police and the Devaswom Board knew the number of people who would come for darshan in a day. Apart from those who had booked, the latecomers joined in and things turned to an unprecedented level.
Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan’s Clarification on Sabarimala Rush
CM Vijayan on Wednesday said, “There is no uncontrollable situation in Sabarimala. The government agencies are very careful.”
He further said that the Kerala government has allocated Rs 220 crore in the last seven years as part of Sabarimala master plan, and the development activities in this regard are being done with the approval of the high power committee of the high court.
“Six rest areas are coming up which will benefit the Sabarimala devotees and the general public alike after the pilgrimage season. Rs 108 crore from Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board is being used to construct these facilities at Chengannur, Kazhakoottam, Charangara, Erumeli, Nilakkal and Maniamkot,” Vijayan said.
Elaborating on the massive footfall, the chief minister said, “Altogether, more than 1,20,000 pilgrims are arriving in a day. The crowd increased during public holidays and as a result, it took longer for devotees to reach Sabarimala.”
Vijayan further said that Sabarimala is a national pilgrimage center, and visited in large numbers by people from outside Kerala. “Those who could not come in the early days due to reasons like floods in Chennai and Telangana elections are now coming in droves. Realizing this, the darshan time was extended by one hour,” he informed.
“Normally, 4,200 people can have darshan in an hour through the 18th step. The elderly, children and old women will need a little more time to climb. Realizing this, the darshan through Virtual Q was narrowed down to 80,000,” the chief minister added.
Vijayan informed that arrangements have been made for the stranded devotees. “In Nilakkal, 86 drinking water kiosks have been installed, 53 in Pampa and 50 in Sannidhanam. Emergency kiosks are also active for drinking water. Purified water and water for other purposes are supplied by tanker lorry at Nilakkal,” the CM said.
“Apart from this, the Devaswom Board provides water and biscuits in all areas where there is a rush of devotees on pavements and queue complexes. Officials have also been deployed to conduct food safety checks at Nilakkal, Pampa and Sannidhanam. Fifteen emergency medicine centers and 17 ambulances have been prepared for the pilgrims and two ventilators and 25 IC units have been prepared in Pampa. KSRTC, which provides travel facilities, has operated 24,456 trips to Pampa and 23,663 trips from Pampa till this Sunday,” CM Vijayan further said.
(With inputs from Neethu Reghukumar in Thiruvananthapuram)